


what if it was more than just a promise

by TheGirlOfIronAndBlood



Category: All For The Game - Nora Sakavic
Genre: Canon Rewrite, M/M, absolutely horrific portrayal of on drugs andrew, kandrew dynamics deserve so much more love, so i went through nora's tumblr and got hung up on her original andreil and kevin/riko ideas
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-05-01
Updated: 2020-05-14
Packaged: 2021-03-02 04:47:37
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 4,384
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23939374
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TheGirlOfIronAndBlood/pseuds/TheGirlOfIronAndBlood
Summary: Andrew noticed him from a quarter mile away, standing on the other side of the bleachers holding a cigarette but never once putting it to his mouth. “You want him.” He did not phrase it as a question. “He plays like he has everything to lose. He is what the Foxes need to bring us to the championships.” Kevin didn't take his eyes off the boy, still who had since then let his cigarette burn to the filter. The boy, Neil Josten, closed his eyes as if to take in the acrid smoke one last time before shuddering and letting the ash fall to the ground.
Relationships: Kevin Day/Andrew Minyard, Kevin Day/Neil Josten/Andrew Minyard, Neil Josten/Andrew Minyard, Past Kevin Day/Riko Moriyama - Relationship
Comments: 3
Kudos: 73





	1. milport

**Author's Note:**

> I can't write as well as Nora, if you can't stomach the writing just don't read it it won't get better. Trying to "get better at writing fanfiction" by getting off my ass and actually writing fanfiction, so yes I know I don't write well I'm tired not utterly delusional. (do you recoginise how annoyed i am at my ineptness at writing but at the same time the laziness to fine-tune my writing until its somewhat bearable) Also because I just really enjoy Kevin/Andrew and Kevin/Riko dynamics. Anything written well? Nora's.

Andrew noticed him from a quarter mile away, standing on the other side of the bleachers holding a cigarette but never once putting it to his mouth. “You want him.” He did not phrase it as a question. “He plays like he has everything to lose. He is what the Foxes need to bring us to the championships.” Kevin didn't took his eyes off the boy, still who had since then let his cigarette burn to the filter. The boy, Neil Josten, closed his eyes as if to take in the acrid smoke one last time before shuddering and letting the ash fall to the ground. 

“He’s a startled, pathetic rabbit.” Andrew said.  
“You said that about me when I first came to Palmetto. And look where we are now.”  
“You know he’s going to bolt once Coach offers him the contract, right?”  
“Go fetch me my striker, Andrew.”  
“I’m not your dog,” Andrew snaps. Kevin lets himself look up at Andrew. The harsh white of the field lights halo his blond hair, and if one was willing to look past his manic smile, he almost looked like an avenging angel. He looked at Kevin as if he couldn’t decide whether to smite him or to raise him to heaven, and the intensity of his gaze reminded Kevin of how Riko used to look at him, before. It was at once comforting and revolting.  
“Then why are you here.” He whispered. It was not a question.  
Andrew threw him a dirty look. “I’m cold.” He said, grabbing Kevin’s jacket off his arm before leaping off the bleachers and he started towards the locker room. To anyone else it would’ve looked like he was admitting defeat, but Kevin knew that it was a statement. A statement that Andrew was not going to be just another psychopathic exy player to boss him around. They were equals in… whatever this was. 

There was a crew on the field dismantling the plexiglass, and it made Kevin’s heart ache. One day, one day exy would be important enough of a sport that it would be given its own place in every school in the country, maybe even the world. That was what his mother would’ve wanted, what the Master would’ve wanted. He ignored the little voice in his head reminding him that the first time he’d sworn to devote his life to Exy he was standing by another boy. One that he’d left far behind.  
On the other side of the field, Coach had gotten to the boy. Josten was subconsciously backing up from the man, holding his arms up in a defence position that looked oddly like the stance of a backliner. He wasn’t going to join them without a fight then. “So much work for one rabbit.” Kevin found himself throwing back a mouthful of vodka before running towards the locker room, bottle still uncapped and in hand. It took two tries before he managed to pry open the broken handle.  
Andrew was already there, sprawled across a bench in Kevin's jacket with a bright yellow racquet in hand. It made his heart ache with something he quickly suppressed. “Get on something. I doubt the first person the midget running from an Exy scholarship wants to see is Kevin Day.” He pointed towards the top of an entertainment system. Andrew had covered it with Josten’s files and the TV was pushed to one side, there was still dust on his shirt.  
“You’re right.”  
“I’m always right. You just never listen.”  
Kevin pulled himself onto the cupboard, panting slightly. He really needed to do more pullups when they got back to Palmetto. Andrew was staring, but when Kevin turned to look at him, he simply directed his focus to the locker room door.  
Maybe someday they’d talk about it.  
But the world had decided it was not the right time, the right place, possibly not even the right timeline for that conversation, because a brown-haired shadow bolted through the door. Andrew got up, flashed a manic smile and threw his entire weight into swinging the racquet at Josten. “Catch.” He said as Josten fell to the ground, clutching at his middle as he gasped and glared at his assailant. 

“This is why we can’t have nice things.” Coach and Andrew had a bickering back and forth, exactly like the one they’d had on the plane, and at the hotel, and on the car ride to Millport. Josten was still on the floor, clutching at his middle but his face was not that of confusion. So he did know who they were. After all, Andrew had caused a stir in collegiate Exy circles to put it mildly. He knew of Andrew’s reputation, but the fear in his eyes did not seem to be directed at the man holding the racquet. Josten did not look like he was afraid of more pain, he looked like someone who was afraid of what would come after it. 

Another memory flashed across his mind. Jean, kneeling on the Evermore court as Riko slammed a racquet into his shoulder. Riko had leaned over to whisper something into the other man’s ear, and the look Jean threw him was exactly that on Josten’s face. Kevin shuddered with the memory of the friend he had left behind, guilt and panic starting to rise in his chest. He had another swig at the bottle. 

“I already gave you my answer. I won't sign with you." The steel in Josten’s voice jolted Kevin’s attention back to the present.  
"You didn't listen to my whole offer," Wymack said. "If I paid to fly three people out here to see you the least you could do is give me five minutes, don't you think?"  
That seemed to unnerve Josten. He doubled back, knotting a hand around his duffel strap. "You didn't bring him here."  
"Is that a problem?"  
"I'm not good enough to play on the same court as a champion.”

Bullshit, Kevin thought. Something didn’t add up about Josten’s behaviour. Logically, the fear of seeing Kevin Day could only be due to two reasons. One, his presence reminded someone of their mangled future, that they’d never be as good as him at Exy. This seemed unlikely, Coach was here offering Josten a future and he was running from it. Two, this person was afraid of what came with Kevin. Josten had already met Andrew, and it was no secret that he’d left Riko behind. 

“True, but irrelevant,” he chose to say instead. He could figure it out later.  
Josten halted, but he still turned towards the sound of Kevin’s voice. Kevin could see the recognition bleeding through Josten’s eyes as the tattoo on his face caught Josten’s sight.  
“What are you doing here?" Josten asked, mumbling as if his lips were numb.  
"Why were you leaving?" Kevin asked.  
"I asked you first."  
"Coach already answered that question. We are waiting for you to sign the contract. Stop wasting our time."  
"No," Josten said. "There are a thousand strikers who'd jump at the chance to play with you. Why don't you bother them?"  
"We saw their files," Wymack said. "We chose you."  
"I won't play with Kevin."  
"You will," Kevin said. He always got what he wanted, and he wanted this striker, his unexplained fear aside. There was something in Josten’s eyes when he played, something that he would not admit reminded him of a young Riko, as if there was nothing in this life but death and the one light in it was Exy. Riko had smothered his own light with death and fear, but Josten’s eyes still glimmered with something that Kevin hadn’t seen since the number 2 was permanently inked onto his skin. 

Wymack shrugged at Josten. "Maybe you haven't noticed, but we're not leaving here until you say yes. Kevin says we have to have you, and he's right."  
Josten still looked as if he were about to dart, so Kevin reverted to what he did best. Being utterly honest about exy. Maybe then, Josten would be able to look past whatever horror he saw in Kevin if he remembered that he was Kevin Day, second best striker in the game, and not some nightmare from his past. "We should have thrown away your coach's letter the second we opened it. Your file is deplorable and I don't want someone with your inexperience on our court.”  
The word inexperience was almost like a trigger for Josten. His shoulders relaxed and his breathing stopped being hitched. Maybe Josten was genuinely worried about dragging a team down, but something still didn’t sit right. But he continued. 

“It goes against everything we're trying to do with the Foxes this year. Fortunately for you, your coach knew better than to send us your statistics. He sent us a tape so we could see you in action instead. You play like you have everything to lose."  
“It's not a good idea." Josten stated, but Kevin could already see it in his eyes. He was hooked. Their job here was done.  
"Your opinion has been duly noted and dismissed," Wymack said. "Anything else, or are you going to start signing stuff?”

Wymack looked at his Foxes. “Go wait in the car.” Kevin gathered the files and slid off the perch. Andrew had started to walk towards the door and he followed. Once they’d left the front door, Andrew took out his packet and lit a cigarette. For a second, Kevin wanted to double back , to stand by the door and see to Josten signing the contract with his own eyes. 

“Coach is going to ask him whether he’s being abused by his parents. That's why he told us to leave.” Andrew said before taking a drag. Of course he knew what Kevin was going to do before he’d even said it. Andrew always knew. Riko had also always known, but whereas the former felt like he was looking out for him, the latter had always felt like he was one step ahead and goading for Kevin to fall. “Don’t bother. He’ll sign it.”  
Kevin looked at Andrew, cigarette between his lips, his jacket reaching mid-thigh and bored eyes tilted to look up at Kevin, and for a split second, he remembered lips that didn't come with hazel eyes, but with black ones. He shook his head at the thought.  
Too much reminded him of the past tonight, he didn’t need that reminder as well.


	2. may eleventh

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The night before they pick up Neil at the airport

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Rewritten because I hated the last chapter it didn't make much sense anyways.

It’s the night before the twelfth and Kevin is halfway drunk, sprawled over the couch watching the same Ravens game he’s watched ten times already. Andrew counted. Sometimes, when he can bring himself to care he takes the remote from Kevin and switches it to some boring history documentary before he can start crying. He doesn’t care that often. 

Kevin watches it like a man obsessed. He knows when Riko scores every goal by heart, and yet he drinks every time he makes one like it's a game. They’re playing USC, so Riko doesn’t make half as many shots as he usually does, but Kevin isn’t there and his shots have gone to Riko as well. Seven. Seven out of nine. They win, of course they do, nine to seven. It’s the closest the Trojans have ever come to the Raven’s score. They ask about it in the interview. He’s watched that ten times as well.  
“Riko! This year the Ravens only beat the Trojans by two points. That’s the smallest point gap in the finals in the past decade. Do you think it’s because he’s gone?” The reporter doesn’t even bother to say Kevin’s name, that’s how common the question of his departure from Edgar Allan is, so common that Riko’s media facade starts to show cracks even before the reporter finishes her question.  
“No. I don’t think that our... loss has affected our playing. It’s affected our morale as a team, definitely. Kevin was a part of our family, to have him pack up and leave once things got rough was definitely a slap in the face. I miss him dearly, but in the end, we are Ravens, and our playing will not be affected by emotional matters.” Riko says. Raven fans ate his statement up, using it as fuel to attack Kevin, to call him an ungrateful bastard, a traitor or other worse names.  
Whenever Kevin watches that interview, he laughs. In part due to the fact that usually by now, he’s drunk enough to find anything funny, but also because Riko would never be caught dead using the phrase “slap in the face”, much less saying that he “missed someone dearly”. Even in their fifteen years of near constant companionship, Riko had never said anything even half as heartfelt to him. 

“I can’t deal with this anymore.” Aaron says. He walks over and switches off the television. Kevin speaks up in protest, but it comes out as more of a whine.“Go clean yourself up Day. Your pet project is coming tomorrow and I don’t want to have to comfort a crying boy about how his sport idol is a pathetic alcoholic coward.” Nicky, who was getting ready for bed, hands him his towel, offering a tired smile. Kevin drags himself off the couch, bottle still in hand.  
“No no no.” Aaron grabs the bottle. “No more drinking. Now get the fuck out and clean up.” 

Kevin showers on autopilot, expertly avoiding falling face flat on the bathroom tiles. He realises he forgot to bring his clothes halfway through, but there’s no one else on this level anyways. He wraps the towel around his waist and makes his way back to the room. It must’ve taken longer than he thought, because the lights are out. Nicky and Aaron have gone to sleep, but Andrew is sitting on his bed waiting for him.  
He sat cross-legged, playing with the sleeve of Kevin’s bed shirt. He looks tiny holding something meant for someone so much taller than him. The moonlight outlights his silhouette, making him softer and blurry at the edges. Kevin’s heart beats a little faster at the sight of him. 

An unwelcome memory flashes across his mind. Riko, in that same position, cross-legged on his bed. He’s taller than Andrew, just by a couple inches, but his frame is leaner, hair slightly damp, wearing nothing but Kevin’s Ravens letterman jacket and it reaches his thighs. Kevin’s eyes sweep to his abdomen, following the trail of black hair downwards where his pale legs are tangled in the sheets. “Come to me, Kevin.” He’d said, eyes tilted up and lips parted. A challenge. Kevin took it and closed the distance between their lips. 

“I’m going to pick him up.” Andrew states, jolting him back from the moonless Evermore dorm.  
Kevin takes a moment to compose himself. Then he realises what Andrew is saying.  
“Last time you saw him, you hit him in the stomach with a racquet and knocked the shit out of him. He’s going to turn and bolt if he sees you at the airport. You’re not going.” Kevin says.  
“Not if I’m going as Aaron.” A smile breaks out across Andrew’s face, and for once it's not his manic smile, all teeth and sharp edges. Kevin thinks about red, bruised lips.  
“Suit yourself.” There’s no point arguing with Andrew.  
“You’re not coming with me.”  
“What.” Suddenly Kevin isn’t so on board with the plan. His aggression fades into panic. “I thought… I thought we said we were going to go to Upstate together.”  
“You’ll manage two hours without me. He’ll know it’s me if Kevin Day shows up as my sidekick.”  
Kevin doesn’t think he’ll manage one hour, much less two without Andrew by his side. Most of the Ravens take weeks to get used to being alone again after their five years at the Nest - Kevin had spent most of his whole life as a pair.  
The first time Andrew had left his side since their promise, he’d gone to the convenience store in the middle of the night to get cigarettes, and Kevin had woken up in the middle of a nightmare. Nicky had to call Andrew to come back, NOW. Andrew’d never left him alone since then.  
“He’ll be staying at Wymack’s. You can go get more drinks when we come back. It’ll be two hours.” Andrew says. Kevin is scared, but he knows Andrew is only going to determine whether the striker is someone they can trust, someone that can be around Kevin.  
“Okay.” He replies. He looks into Andrew’s eyes. The hazel seems darker than usual, his eyes sharper. Maybe it’s because he’s coming off the meds, Kevin thinks.  
“Okay.” He repeats, as if trying to make himself accept the fact. “Come back.” "Two hours." Andrew says. Its a promise, he doesn't say, but it hangs in the air regardless. Andrew throws the shirt at him and jumps off the bed. Kevin grabs the shirt, throws it on and gets into bed. It still smells slightly like smoke and sugar: Andrew must’ve sat there for as long as he was in the showers. 

“You do realise if you’re pretending to be me I’ll have to pretend to be you right? After last time, I’m not doing it again.” Aaron suddenly says without turning away from the wall.  
“You’re doing it.” Andrew says, getting up onto his bed before whipping the curtain shut.


	3. airport

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> terribly, terribly written on drugs Andrew. his thoughts are too cohesive. he's horrifying to write and i miss Kevin already

Andrew hadn’t been to enough airports to make a comprehensive ranking, but Upstate Regional had to be one of the worst. There were too many people, all rushing about with nothing on their mind but their own destination. He’d never been bumped into more in his entire life. The lobby was crowded, uncomfortably so, and the rabbit was nowhere to be seen.   
He wondered whether it would’ve been more bearable with Kevin around as a human shield. He'd never admit it out loud but at moments like this he really wished he’d been born as tall as Kevin. The airport sign showed that Josten's plane had arrived half an hour ago and that their bags were yet to arrive- he still had time then.  
Suddenly, a black head of hair peeked around the gateway, and Andrew had a split second to force his features into a disinterested stare. Josten didn’t seem to realise that he was being picked up by the same twin that had ambushed him in his locker room. He walked over, one hand pulling on the strap of his duffle bag and the other clutching his identification papers so tightly that his knuckles turned white.   
"Neil," Andrew said in lieu of hello. "Baggage claim?"  
"Just this." Neil tapped the strap.  
The bag was small, definitely not big enough to hold everything a normal teenager would own. But then Josten did look like a runaway. Andrew started to walk away, checking through the reflection of the glass panes to see if Neil followed.   
A small crowd was waiting at the crosswalk for the light. Andrew, who had had enough of accidental touching in Arrivals for the rest of his life, pushed right through them into the street without looking. From the corner of his eye he could see a taxi speeding towards them, but he continued on. Kevin would kill him for his carelessness if he were around. But he wasn’t. For a moment Andrew wondered how Kevin would react if he died in a car accident. He’d cry. Yell a bit. Drink a lot. Go crawling back to Riko. Nicky would be devastated and would move back to Germany. Aaron would laugh at the irony.   
His lips twisted into a smile around the cigarette as Brakes screeched as the taxi slammed to a stop inches away.   
“Pity,” Andrew thought, returning his attention to lighting his cigarette. He paid even less attention to the rude words the driver yelled at him. Neil made an apologetic gesture at the cabbie and jogged to catch up. One hour here and already Neil was already picking up behind him, either he was genuinely just a nice person or trying to gain his favour. There had been something about Neil back in Milport that didn’t sit well with him: the recognition at Kevin’s face spoke of more than just a sports crush, the practised ease with how Josten settled himself after a whole racquet to his chest, the family background that didn’t add up. Now, the eagerness to please despite having come from exactly as broken a background as the rest of the Foxes.   
Neil looked shocked as Andrew unlocked his car with a button on his keychain. A boy who knew the value of his beauty of a car, then.   
"Bag in the trunk," he said, opening the driver's door and sitting sideways in the seat to smoke. He looked intently as Josten put his duffel in the back without protest before climbing in the passenger seat.   
Obedient, Andrew thought. He’d be a good spy. He could be here to take Kevin away, take him back to the Moriyamas. He’d be good at taking orders.   
Andrew continued to smoke as if Josten were not there and fidgeting in his backseat. Most people would’ve gotten mad and started yelling by now, but Josten continued to sit unmoving and quiet as a doll.   
His cigarette burnt halfway before he grew bored of looking at Josten out of the corner of his eye. He flicked the butt onto the concrete at his feet and tugged the door closed. A twist of the key in the ignition got the engine humming, and Amdrew glanced at Neil again. He shot him his best Aaron expression, the ghost of a smile that was more of a challenge than a friendly gesture. Neil slumped further back into his seat. Oh, he would be interesting indeed.   
"Neil Josten," he said again, unfamiliar with the pronunciation of the surname. Neil. It suited him but didn’t feel like the whole truth "Here for the summer, hm?"  
"Yes." Neil said.   
Fuck, it was hot. Andrew cranked the air conditioner up as high as it could go and put the car in reverse. "That makes five of us, but word is you're going to stay with Coach."  
Neil looked confused. "Kevin stays on campus?" he asked.  
"Where the court is, Kevin is. He can't exist without it," Andrew said derisively.  
"I didn't think it was the court Kevin was staying for," Neil said.  
Andrew didn't answer. Josten didn’t need to know that the reverse was probably closer to fact. Neil discreetly tightened his buckle as he stepped down hard on the gas and the car shot off onto the highway.   
When they were on the road, he flicked Neil a sideways look. It was time to test the waters. "I hear you didn't hit it off with Kevin last month."  
"No one warned me he was going to be there," Neil answered, watching the scenery rush by outside the window as if it’d been some time since he was last in a car.. "Maybe you'll forgive me for not reacting well."  
"Maybe I won't. I don't believe in forgiveness, and it wasn't me you offended. That's the second time a recruit has told him to fuck off. If it was possible to dent that arrogance of his, his pride would have shreds through it. Instead he's losing faith in the intelligence of high school athletes." Jealousy had managed to crawl into the gaps between his words and distort them into something uncomfortable. This, Neil Josten, did not deserve to hold the same place in Kevin’s heart as he did even if it was just a dent and they both ended up here at PSU with Kevin anyways. Mercifully, Neil didn’t seem to notice.   
"I'm sure Andrew had his reasons for refusing, same as me."  
"You said you weren't good enough, but here you are anyway. You think a summer of practices will make that much a difference?"  
"No," Neil said. "It was just too hard to say no."  
"Coach always knows what to say, hm? It makes it harder on the rest of us, though. Not even Millport should have taken a chance on you." Andrew poked. Was Josten playing hard to get to get Wymack to trust him more or did he just have a disgusting inferiority complex? Jury’s still out.   
Neil shrugged. "Millport’s too small to care about experience. I had nothing to lose by trying out and they had nothing to gain by refusing me. It was a matter of being in the right place at the right time, I guess."  
"Do you believe in fate?" If Josten believed in circumstances, he was too optimistic for the Foxes: the rabbit would be eaten alive.   
"No. Do you?" Neil shut Andrew down as if having detected the scorn in his voice. Ding ding ding, point to Josten.   
"Luck, then," Andrew said, ignoring that return question. What he wanted to say was that fate was a privilege, but here he was trying to pretend to be Aaron and he’d never say that. His poor bastard of a twin brother probably did believe in fate.   
"Only the bad sort."  
"We're flattered by your high opinion of us, of course." Aaron pulled at the wheel, sliding the car from one lane to the other, finding amusement in the way other cars swerved to avoid hitting them. Josten looked scandalized.   
"It's too nice of a car to wreck," he said pointedly.  
"Don't be so afraid to die," Andrew said as he made the car glide across the four-lane road to an exit ramp. "If you are, you have no place on our court."  
"We're talking about a sport, not a death match."  
"Same difference," Andrew said. "You're playing for a Class I team with Kevin on your line. People are always willing to bleed for him.” For one, Andrew would let every drop of blood in his body run dry before he let Riko fucking Moriyama harm one hair on his head, he was a big fan too, afterall.   
“You've seen the news, I assume."  
"I've seen it," Neil said.  
Andrew flicked his fingers as if that proved his point. Neil seemed to understand the sentiment, and he let it slide.


End file.
